Electronic Devices and Semiconductor Manufacturing Commons^™

On Improving Robustness Of Hardware Security Primitives And Resistance To Reverse Engineering Attacks, Vinay C. Patil

Doctoral Dissertations

The continued growth of information technology (IT) industry and proliferation of interconnected devices has aggravated the problem of ensuring security and necessitated the need for novel, robust solutions. Physically unclonable functions (PUFs) have emerged as promising secure hardware primitives that can utilize the disorder introduced during manufacturing process to generate unique keys. They can be utilized as \textit{lightweight} roots-of-trust for use in authentication and key generation systems. Unlike insecure non-volatile memory (NVM) based key storage systems, PUFs provide an advantage -- no party, including the manufacturer, should be able to replicate the physical disorder and thus, effectively clone the PUF. …

Real-Time Internal Temperature Estimation And Health Monitoring For Igbt Modules, Ze Wang

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Field experiences have demonstrated that power semiconductor devices, such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), are among the most fragile components of power electronic converters. Thermomechanical stresses produced by temperature variations during operational and environmental loads are the major causes of IGBT degradation. As the devices are often operated under complex working conditions, temperature variations and the associated damage are difficult to predict during the converter design stage. A promising approach—online health monitoring and prognosis for power semiconductor devices—that can avoid device failure and effectively schedule maintenance has attracted much interest.

This dissertation research focused on real-time accurate internal temperature estimation …

Nanostructured Semiconductor Device Design In Solar Cells, Hongmei Dang

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

We demonstrate the use of embedded CdS nanowires in improving spectral transmission loss and the low mechanical and electrical robustness of planar CdS window layer and thus enhancing the quantum efficiency and the reliability of the CdS-CdTe solar cells. CdS nanowire window layer enables light transmission gain at 300nm-550nm. A nearly ideal spectral response of quantum efficiency at a wide spectrum range provides an evidence for improving light transmission in the window layer and enhancing absorption and carrier generation in absorber. Nanowire CdS/CdTe solar cells with Cu/graphite/silver paste as back contacts, on SnO₂/ITO-soda lime glass substrates, yield the …

A Reliability Prediction Method For Phase-Change Devices Using Optimized Pulse Conditions, Martin Jared Barclay

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Owing to the outstanding device characteristics of Phase-Change Random Access Memory (PCRAM) such as high scalability, high speed, good cycling endurance, and compatibility with conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes, PCRAM has reached the point of volume production. However, due to the temperature dependent nature of the phase-change memory device material and the high electrical and thermal stresses applied during the programming operation, the standard methods of high-temperature (Temperature > 125 °C) accelerated retention testing may not be able to accurately predict bit sensing failures or determine slight pulse condition changes needed if the device were to be …

Electron – Phonon Interaction In Multiple Channel Gan Based Hfets: Heat Management Optimization, Romualdo A. Ferreyra

Theses and Dissertations

New power applications for managing increasingly higher power levels require that more heat be removed from the power transistor channel. Conventional treatments for heat dissipation do not take into account the conversion of excess electron energy into longitudinal optical (LO) phonons, whose associated heat is stored in the channel unless such LO phonons decay into longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonons via a Ridley path. A two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density of ~5×10¹²cm^-2 in the channel results in a strong plasmon–LO phonon coupling (resonance) and a minimum LO phonon lifetime is experimentally observed, implying fast heat removal from …

End-To-End Modeling For Variability And Reliability Analysis Of Thin Film Pv, Sourabh Dongaonkar, Muhammad Alam

Sourabh Dongaonkar

We present an end-to-end modeling framework, spanning the device, module and also system levels, for analyzing thin film photovoltaics (PV). This approach is based on embedding a detailed, statistically relevant, physics based equivalent circuit into module and array level simulations. This approach enables us to analyze key variability and reliability issues in thin film PV, and allows us to interpret their effect on process yield and intrinsic module lifetimes. Our results suggest that the time-zero gap between cell and module efficiencies, a key variability concern for thin-film PV, can be attributed to processrelated shunts with log-normal PDF distributed randomly across …

A Physical Model For Non-Ohmic Shunt Conduction And Metastability In Amorphous Silicon P-I-N Solar Cells, Sourabh Dongaonkar, Karthik Y, Souvik Mahapatra, Muhammad Alam

Sourabh Dongaonkar

We present a physical model of non-ohmic shunt current in a-Si:H p-i-n solar cells, and validate it with detailed measurements. This model is based on space-charge-limited (SCL) transport through localized p-i-p shunt paths, which can arise from contact metal incorporation in a-Si:H layer. This model explains both the electrical characteristics and the metastable switching behavior of the shunts within an integrated framework. We first verify the SCL model using simulations and statistically robust measurements, and then use this picture to analyze our systematic observations of non-volatile switching in these shunts. Our work not only resolves broad experimental observations on shunt …

Identification, Characterization, And Implications Of Shadow Degradation In Thin Film Solar Cells, Sourabh Dongaonkar, Karthik Y, Dapeng Wang, Michel Frei, Souvik Mahapatra, Muhammad Alam

Sourabh Dongaonkar

We describe a comprehensive study of intrinsicreliability issue arising from partial shadowing of photovoltaicpanels (e.g., a leaf fallen on it, a nearby tree casting a shadow,etc.). This can cause the shaded cells to be reverse biased, causingdark current degradation. In this paper, (1) we calculate thestatistical distribution of reverse bias stress arising from variousshading configurations, (2) identify the components of darkcurrent, and provide a scheme to isolate them, (3) characterizethe effect of reverse stress on the dark current of a-Si:H p-i-ncells, and (4) finally, combine these features of degradationprocess with shadowing statistics, to project ‘shadow-degradation’ (SD) over the operating lifetime …

Degradation Uniformity Of Rf-Power Gaas Phemts Under Electrical Stress, Anita Villanueva, Jesus Del Alamo, Takayuki Hisaka, Kazuo Hayashi, Mark Somerville

Mark Somerville

We have studied the electrical degradation of RF-power PHEMTs by means of in situ 2-D light-emission measurements. Electroluminescence originates in the recombination of holes that have been generated by impact ionization. The local light intensity, thus, maps the electric-field distribution at the drain side of the device. This allows us to probe the uniformity of electrical degradation due to electric-field-driven mechanisms. We find that electrical degradation proceeds in a highly nonuniform manner across the width of the device. In an initial phase, degradation takes place preferentially toward the center of the gate finger. In advanced stages of degradation, the edges …

Theory Of Charging And Charge Transport In “Intermediate” Thickness Dielectrics And Its Implications For Characterization And Reliability, Sambit Palit, Muhammad A. Alam

Birck and NCN Publications

Thin film dielectrics have broad applications, and the performance degradation due to charge trapping in these thin films is an important and pervasive reliability concern. It has been presumed since the 1960s that current transport in intermediate-thickness (IT) oxides (∼10–100 nm) can be described by Frenkel-Poole (FP) conduction (originally developed for ∼mm-thick films) and algorithms based on the FP theory can be used to extract defect energy levels and charging-limited lifetime. In this paper, we review the published results to show that the presumption of FP-dominated current in IT oxides is incorrect, and therefore, the methods to extract trap-depths to …

Reliability Analysis Of Nanocrystal Embedded High-K Nonvolatile Memories, Chia-Han Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

The evolution of the MOSFET technology has been driven by the aggressive shrinkage of the device size to improve the device performance and to increase the circuit density. Currently, many research demonstrated that the continuous polycrystalline silicon film in the floating-gate dielectric could be replaced with nanocrystal (nc) embedded high-k thin film to minimize the charge loss due to the defective thin tunnel dielectric layer.

This research deals with both the statistical aspect of reliability and electrical aspect of reliability characterization as well. In this study, the Zr-doped HfO₂ (ZrHfO) high-k MOS capacitors, which separately contain the nanocrystalline zinc …

Advanced Thermosonic Wire Bonding Using High Frequency Ultrasonic Power: Optimization, Bondability, And Reliability, Minh-Nhat Ba Le

Master's Theses

Gold wire bonding typically uses 60 KHz ultrasonic frequency. Studies have been reported that increasing ultrasonic frequency from 60KHz to 120KHz can decrease bonding time, lower bonding temperature, and/or improve the bondability of Au metalized organic substrates. This thesis presents a systematic study of the effects of 120 KHz ultrasonic frequency on the reliability of fine pitch gold wire bonding. Two wire sizes, 25.4 and 17.8 μm in diameter (1.0 and 0.7 mil, respectively) were used. The gold wires were bonded to metalized pads over organic substrates with five different metallization. The studies were carried out using a thermosonic ball …